The Philosophy of Distracted Driving: A New Theory

Georgia Institute of Technology

During this Fall Fund Drive, we’re looking back at some of our favorite work we’ve brought you on City Café in recent months.   

A quick quiz: Which is safer? Driving while talking on a hand-held cell phone, or while using a hands-free device? 
 

If you answered “Neither,” then you’ve likely been paying attention to a number of studies in recent years—most recently, last week, from The University of Utah and AAA.

 

These studies keep finding that that talking and texting impair driving whether a phone is hand-held or not. 

But the question remains: Why is this the case? Here’s one possible answer, from an unusual source. 

Robert Rosenberger’s theory on driver distraction is outlined in the April 2013 issues of two  academic journals: Communications of the ACM and IEEE Technology & Society Magazine.